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Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 8:38 pm
by Einar Saukas
KenD wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2018 3:25 pmEinar, I commend your patience in dealing with Lee, but I fear you're wasting your time. Everything you have done has been technically exemplary, proposed politely and communicated respectfully. Instead, you get rudeness, contradictions and misdirection; selectively responding to choice allegations and conveniently ignoring the more pertinent questions. He's the real-life equivalent of Viz's Aldridge Prior.

Trying to get him to back to reality with facts is a bit like kicking a dead whale up a beach: slow, messy, and ultimately pointless.
Thanks for the support! :)

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Sat Feb 10, 2018 10:07 pm
by Einar Saukas
Mike Davies wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2018 6:24 pmOn the topic of IDs, is there any appetite to add a WoS ID field to the entries table in ZXDB? Initially it would be identical to the existing "ZXDB ID" field, but when Fogarty (or his team) then branches off and uses a different ID, we'll still have a field to record the WoS-specific mapping.
Actually it's more complicated: Lee also plans to break compatibility between old WoS and new WoS too. According to him, new WoS will have different IDs from old WoS. He mentioned it here (July 2017):

"Yes the old infoseek ID's will work, but no, we aren't keeping the same numbering system. In reality, there will be a lookup table between old id's and new ones. All software items will be renumbered to follow an auto-increment and new items follow on from there. The lookup is for backwards compatibility with old links."

Anyway your answer is yes. In the future, we plan to map IDs from both ZXDB and old WoS, into IDs from new WoS. Unless Lee changes his mind again about this...

Mike Davies wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2018 6:24 pmThank you for confirming there is life to ZXDB after that point. That opens up the gates for contributions. I've been reluctant to volunteer to help while Fogarty remains a "gate-keeper" for ZXDB, and that's why I offered help when it became clear that ZXDB was no longer welcome on WoS.

That you are free to work on developing new games is great news. I'm relieved ZXDB isn't consuming lots of time. But, please shout if you need help, you are not alone, and there's a nice community building here, built on-top of your work. It's a valuable chunk of infrastructure.
Thank you very much!!! :)

Mike Davies wrote: Sat Feb 10, 2018 6:24 pmDo you have a roadmap of features, or new types of information to add to ZXDB? I'm curious :-)
Good point! Just please give me some time to take care of more urgent tasks first, and I will publish current ZXDB roadmap ASAP.

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 9:23 pm
by EdwardCatflap
Image


Sigh....

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 10:10 pm
by 5MinuteRetro
Really, does it much matter at this stage? The WoS stewardship is a laughing stock, and the brand is likely now irretrievably tarnished. I'd say ignore it and let it whither. SC is my new trusted source for all things Spectrum.

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 10:50 pm
by Ralf
Yes, ignoring is the best option.

The true world of Spectrum is where is the true spirit.

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2018 11:58 pm
by Nomad
Agree with Ralf, best thing is just to ignore it. If the guy wants to remove core functionality from his forum that is his choice.

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:22 am
by Alessandro
5MinuteRetro wrote: Wed Mar 28, 2018 10:10 pm I'd say ignore it and let it whither. SC is my new trusted source for all things Spectrum.
If WOS should fade away, I'd be immensely sad. I have been a member of the forum for 20 years by now and couldn't ever imagine it not being any more. Certainly I am more active here nowadays (except for some later inactivity due to more important "real life" matters) but WOS has been a part of my life for so much time, despite the problems since Martijn left and the discussions over food and obscure UK TV programs taking a large share of the total, that I could simply not accept such a fate as if it were nothing.

I will continue posting my own news there, and answering posts when I feel like it, as I did in the past. The demise of WOS would not be a defeat for Lee Fogarty - it would be a defeat for all of us.

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:44 am
by RMartins
Alessandro wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:22 am ...

I will continue posting my own news there, and answering posts when I feel like it, as I did in the past.
...
I would also like to be able to do that, and fix all the links on my previous threads, that are no longer valid ...

However, after being banned without any relation to the website, it's hard to contribute ...
I hope that will not happen to many more, because if it does, it will be impossible to keep the place going ...

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:00 pm
by Alessandro
I don't want to resuscitate old troubles, even less about circumstances beyond my personal knowledge, but since I am still there, I will continue being active on it rather much as before. Not as intensely, as several people I interacted with the most chose to migrate here for good, but again, I don't like the idea of completely ignoring the website at the heart of almost all of my retrocomputing and retrogaming 20-year-old activity, despite the events after Martijn's leave.

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:02 pm
by PeterJ
[mention]Alessandro[/mention] its would indeed be very sad if WoS ever bit the dust. I think we all want it to survive and return to it's former glory.

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:36 pm
by Ralf
Yes, I would love to see it in former glory too.

It's been over 15 years since I was reading WOS. Actually my first experiences with WOS were at internet cafes as I didn't still have internet connection at home then ;)

But Alessandro is right saying that it is spoilt much more beyond obsolete, broken technology and lack of updates. It's the people not been able to get excited and find enthusiasm about Spectrum anymore, doing smalltalk about food, drinks and celebrities deaths most of time.

You can fix the technology but can you fix the people? :?:

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:06 pm
by Nomad
Ralf wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:36 pm You can fix the technology but can you fix the people? :?:
True words.

I figure most people feel the same way - we would all love to see WOS like when it was in its prime. But its been sick for a long time. And the problems that lead to this whole mess would still have been their.

Still on the plus side, look at all the progress you guys have made here. Sure there were a few problems but its like every week there is new software, or some preservation progress or the new database is coming on leaps and bounds. The thing that really convinced me things were different now is the projects are using standard tech, and its open source.

Re: World of Spectrum....

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:46 pm
by Rorthron
I think very few of us want to see WoS fail, and almost all would like to see it restored to its former glory. That just seems less and less likely as time proceeds.

Also, I wouldn't just say "the people" are the problem. There are still good people posting there - it's a small group of people that have made it a place I no longer choose to visit.

All we can do is make SC the best place for the Spectrum that we can. If we then end up with two great Spectrum sites, great; if we end up with one, it's a shame, but the community still has somewhere.